Drafting a business case for commercial matter management software

Step 1: Define the problem clearly

Start by identifying the specific financial issues holding your firm back. Here are the most common problems:

• High-volume matters: It's next to impossible to keep tabs on 10s or even 100s of matters handled by teams of associates who might be more detached from client relationship management.
• High-value, complex matters: It’s difficult to track billing milestones in real time, causing delays and missed revenue opportunities.
• Lack of visibility for fee earners: Lawyers can’t see live data about matter performance, so potential budget overruns or delays go unnoticed.
• Manual reporting: Finance teams spend hours building static reports that are outdated as soon as they’re produced.
• Billing delays: Milestone-based billing often gets missed, worsening lockup and delaying cash flow.

Be as specific as possible about how these problems impact your firm. For example, Are write-offs disproportionately high in certain practice areas? How much time does manual reporting consume? These details strengthen your case.

Step 2: Quantify the impact of inaction

To convince stakeholders, you need to put numbers to the problem. Here’s how you can frame it:

• Write-offs: If your firm loses 5% of billable revenue annually, that’s £2.5 million for a firm with £50 million in revenue.
• Billing delays: A 15-day delay on milestone billing for 20% of matters worsens lockup and cash flow significantly.
• Manual processes: If a 5-person finance team spends 5 hours a week on reporting, that’s over £60,000 in wasted time annually.

Estimate these figures for your own firm. Even if you make assumptions, presenting tangible numbers helps decision-makers see the value of solving the problem.

Step 3: Outline what’s been tried before

Show that you’ve already explored alternative solutions:

• Manual spreadsheets: These take hours to build, are prone to errors, and quickly become outdated.
• Email reminders: Hand-crafted emails, like spreadsheets, take too long to send regularly and at scale. Simple, rules-based alerts create too much noise and get ignored.
• Top-down incentives: Encouraging lawyers to focus on billing doesn’t work without the right tools to support them.

Explain why these approaches aren’t enough: They don’t provide real-time oversight or scalable solutions.

Step 4: Specify what you need in a solution

When evaluating commercial matter management tools, focus on these key criteria:

1. Real-time data: Live visibility into matter performance, billing delays, and write-offs.
2. Custom dashboards: Tailored views for fee earners, practice leaders, and finance teams.
3. Proactive alerts: Notifications when billing milestones are missed or when the risks of write-offs creep up.
4. Seamless integration: Connects with your existing practice management system.
5. Ease of use: Intuitive enough for lawyers and finance teams to adopt quickly.

Be clear that any solution must tick all these boxes to deliver the results you need.

Step 5: Show why the selected solution works

Once you’ve identified a product that meets your criteria, demonstrate how it solves your problems. For example:

• Real-time insights: The tool provides live dashboards that let fee earners and finance teams monitor profitability and billing status.
• Proactive oversight: Alerts ensure that milestones are met, write-offs are minimised, and billing stays on track.
• Efficiency gains: Finance teams save hours of manual reporting time, freeing them to focus on higher-value tasks.

Frame this as a practical solution that addresses your firm’s most pressing financial issues.

Step 6: Set clear, measurable targets

Define the improvements you expect and when you expect to see them. Examples include:

• Write-offs: Reduce write-offs by 20% within 6 months, saving £500,000 annually.
• Lockup: Shorten the lockup period by 10 days, improving cash flow by £750,000.
• Finance efficiency: Cut manual reporting time by 50%, freeing up hundreds of hours annually.

These targets make the business case more compelling and give you a benchmark for success.

Step 7: Calculate costs and ROI

Be upfront about the investment required and the return you expect. For example:

• Annual licensing cost: £100,000.
• Implementation cost: £25,000 one-off.
• IT support: 20 hours for integration and testing.

Compare this to the anticipated benefits: If you save £500,000-750,000 annually, the product pays for itself within the first year.

Step 8: Highlight implementation resources and timeline

Implementation doesn’t need to be disruptive. Outline the minimal resources required:

• IT support: 20 hours for integration.
• Training: Simple, user-friendly onboarding for lawyers and finance teams.

The system can be fully implemented within 1 month, meaning your firm can start seeing results quickly.

Step 9: Secure buy-in from key stakeholders

Focus on the decision-makers who need to approve the investment:

• Practice leaders
• CFO and commercial finance leader
• IT and security teams

Present a clear, concise case that highlights the ROI, timeline, and measurable benefits. Keep the focus on solving their specific challenges.

Conclusion

Building a business case for a commercial matter management product is about solving real problems: matter profitability, write-offs, and delayed billing. By quantifying the impact, setting clear goals, and showing how the solution delivers measurable results, you can make a compelling case for investment. With minimal implementation time and a strong return on investment, a commercial matter management tool is an essential step toward improving your firm’s financial performance.

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